Got a call from Dr. Calm's office (my immunologist) today and I definitely have an "alpha-gal" mammalian meat allergy. The hamburger I ate a few weeks ago was the cause of my anaphylactic reaction. The jury apparently is still out on the c-kit mutation test for mastocytosis. No more mammalian meats or mammalian meat byproducts or fats allowed!
When I had the EMG done for the radiation induced lumbosacral plexopathy (try and say that three times in a row really fast - not hardly possible) Dr. Welby commented on my occipital nerve stimulator, saying I was a really special person to have one of those, meaning he didn't see THAT too often. I told him my theory that I am the "nexus" of weird diseases, and I really want the merry go round to stop and let me off! Well, now I have one more weird disease!
Guess my tick bites here in southwest Missouri (not far from Arkansas) have set me up to be fatally allergic to beef, pork and other mammalian meats! Trying to have a sense of humor about it, I started getting a list together of new things I cannot eat:
Platypus
Whale
Dolphin (well, tuna was already off the list so no accidental dolphin eating here)
Venison
Rabbit
Squirrel
Possum
Elephant
Mice
Antelope
Bison
Elk
Seal
Manatee
Sea otter
Polar Bear
Dog
Cat
Tiger
Musk Ox
Apparently I could be a cannibal, because human meat does not contain "alpha-gal" nor do the higher apes like chimpanzees and gorillas. Ummm, baked gorilla - no thanks. I think this about makes eating out in a restaurant impossible as I am about out of foods that cannot be cross contaminated in a kitchen.
Proteins I can still eat (deadly allergic to seafood and fish so they are off the list):
Snake
chicken
Alligator
Chicken
Turtle
Chicken..
Turkey
Chicken....
Grouse
Chicken......
Parrot
Chicken........
Lizards
Chicken...........
Quail
CHICKEN...........
I think I'm getting carried away with chicken, which is the protein I eat the most of anyway.
You know, when something is restricted from your food list you start yearning for it even when it is something (like beef and pork) that you don't really eat that often. I also started thinking of things I eat or take that have mammal protein in them - gelatin capsules for pills, pancreatic enzymes for digestion, refried beans, tortillas, jello, lunch meat - ouch!! Too much for The Headache to handle!
My mom was doing better by this afternoon with her dizziness. Hoping this means the antivert is working, and it is only an inner ear problem. She is perking up a bit, more like her regular self. This at least seems to be going well! Yeah!
This week has not been good for me healthwise. Monday evening I was trying to sleep and in a lot of pelvic and back and leg pain. I drifted off and was dreaming I was screaming in pain. I woke up and I was actually laying there screaming "EEEEEEEEEEEEE" so I guess it wasn't a dream. I did medicate and have stayed home the last two days partly because my Mom needed help, but also because I am in an incredible amount of pain. In addition to the pain I am extremely nauseated and I have hives in batches several places on my body. I went without pain medication most of today and the nausea was still there so the "medication is to blame" theory bit the dust. I fear The Belly may be riled up in addition to everything else. This is messing with my need to do things and be at work and concentrate and I am not happy about it one bit. Pain pain go away, come again another day!!!
I think Karma is working against me for some reason, or maybe it is because the evil thought crossed my mind that I might have wanted to eat a duck billed platypus for dinner or chow down on a poor manatee. The ghosts of all those future chickens I will be eating are going to haunt me now!
